My dad is getting towards the age where he's slowing down some, and he's looking at getting a battery powered chainsaw for limbing and bucking smaller wood. He asked me to do a little research and I figured this forum probably has the best collective knowledge to be found on chainsaws of any kind. Of particular importance are ease of use, battery life, and overall durability. Thank you in advance for any information you can provide
It depends on the size of the "small" wood that you are referring to. I know that you can't beat it for ease of "starting", but SIZE matters. Especially if it's going to be used for an extended period. I'm wondering if he would be a little better off with a small (40cc) gas unit. Does he live sorta close to a reputable dealer for maintenance and/or repair? All of these things are also part of the consideration of decision making process for you AND him. Just make sure that if you go with a gas unit to get one with a compression release for his consideration and well being. Start off by talking to your dealer that you trust. A good one will tell you the truth!
Between the two of us we have plenty of gas saws, several Stihl pro saws from an 026 up and a fairly new husky rancher 455 from the box store. Our local dealer is a great place to pay a lot to not get your stuff fixed so I do all the maintenance myself and reliability isn't an issue. Dad's looking at electric specifically to get away from the noise, fumes and vibration from the gas saw. It'll probably be used to it's full capacity size wise, mostly in pine. We also cut a lot of black locust firewood but I don't see an electric saw coping well with that.
I just went through this with my father. He too is getting up there in age, but still wants to continue to be useful and do things himself. We have plenty of saws, but he wanted something light. I too thought a battery would be best for him. We went into the saw shop to test battery saws. The funny thing is, the battery makes them kinda heavy. Not something we wanted.
We settled on a MS151 tc at 5.7lbs. He loves it. It's light and can cut rather well. Hell, I find myself reaching for it to limb a tree.
i got a 20 volt Dewalt saw as a safety award a few years ago, its a power house at all, but it gets good chain speed and has cut everything i have asked it to. no complaints
Granted, we dont have any hardwoods in Montana, so that might affect its effectiveness
I have had good luck with my milwaukee. It might be a bit expensive but I use the battery on other tools. I was looking online at the greenworks battery saw recently It looks pretty impressive.
If you pick the bat. saw, just be aware of any limitations you might encounter and be aware that to help without the possibility of overloading the saw to get the shortest bar and chain that you can.
I did the same on my 55cc gas saw, and if I need a long bar then it forces me to get out my 71cc saw, and "away I go"!
I am very satisfied with my 40volt Ryobi.
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My neighbor bucked all of these logs plus another half dozen to length with a 20v DeWalt.
I can understand wanting the quiet and no fumes.
I seen a couple of comparison videos on youtube (search "battery chainsaw project farm"), if I recall correctly the bigger ones were around 14 lbs.
Never run a battery saw, but I like the idea of "homeowner" type saws, where you can use the batteries for other tools. The batteries are the expensive part, so it can make expending the collection of tools more affordable.
I bought a single battery, top handled little Makita for use climbing, and in a bucket. It might seem like a toy, but it probably would surprise you. I wouldn't think of using it for bucking up much of anything, but I did slice off a 6" Red Oak limb with it pretty easily from a lift bucket.
edited to add: If the operator is good at keeping a chain sharp, and cuts with a light hand, a respectable amount of work can be done with one, even one of these little ones. If the answer for a dull chain is to push harder, and get someone else to sharpen it, there will probably only be frustration, and dissatisfaction.
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My son has a Milwaukee that we have used around the mill and its worked very well I like it. Randy
I have the Stihl MSA 120 C-B and have been very happy with it. Great for yard clean-up, pruning trails back, camp fire wood on a trip, and have hacked up a pile of old lumber/boards for the bonfire. My only complaint is the puddles of bar oil left behind when stored. Keep it sharp, keep an extra battery charged, work it as it was designed...no problems.
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Scott B.
I got my wife the stihl 120c it has lots of torque similar power weight as my ms 150 tc and she like how easy it starts
My wife is always accusing me of supersizing things - my small gas saw is a 372XT, so I guess she is right.
I have a Milwaukee 16" M18 battery saw and a Kobalt 80V, 18" battery saw for use around the sawmill. They cut off flitches all day long. Honestly there is no discernible difference in performance between the two, which surprised me to be honest. One day when I just didn't want to walk out to the skidder and grab a 372 I used the Kobalt to trim a 20" White Oak to length - figured it was worth trying and it wasn't as fast as the 372, but it did just fine, which really sold me on them.
@Wudman (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=624) has run time on both and can chime in too.
I have a Dewalt 20 volt. I bought it for trimming flitches and such, it's top handle and can be ran with one hand while the other can hold the work. It's done everything I've expected of it, and it's very light. It by no means replaces my gas saws, but I can tell you that anything under 6" I'm going for the battery saw.
I've got a Stihl 200, I use it every day for odd jobs around the sawmill and business. I challenged it one day and cut up a big white oak into burn pile and sawmill size pieces with it, just to see how it would go. The charge lasted 45 minutes, and I cut the entire tree to pieces with no problem.
I have several gas powered saws, this ain't them, but they ain't this either. A very useful niche tool.
I have a Sthil MSA 120. I use it for small limbs and trail clearing. It was the lightest of all the major battery saws. Not the most powerful.
As long as it's sharp and charged it'll cut as well as a 1/4 Picco chain should be expected to!
I wanted a lighter than a gas saw to carry and for those quick nips at the wood processor, not waiting for warm up. This little saw has fit that bill.
As mentioned above, the YouTube review video by project farm is pretty good.
However, going and holding the saws and feeling the balance and weight is usually best!
Check out Project Farm's channel. I know some people have interesting opinions on him, and I have my own too, but I'd recommend checking out his two vids on battery powered chainsaws. They're in depth.
I have the Stihl line. the batteries and charger are half the expense. so after that, the other tools make more sense. I use the blower a lot, and weed whacker. I have a cut off saw that uses 9 inch blades, and I use it for metal and concrete. for my big concrete grooving jobs, I use a corded worm drive saw. I have a hedge trimmer, that I am not sure I have ever used. They have a backpack battery, but I would not use any of these tools for industrial/commercial all day long stuff. they are good if needed indoors, quiet and no exhaust. I have trim slabs that are used for benches and such.
The Stihl MSA 140 CB my wife gave me for Christmas works nicely. I gave her a hint about it so she gave me a check to get it. The little saw works nicely, the ΒΌ" Picco chain cuts smoothly. My Stihl pole saw uses the same chain so files are on hand. I am satisfied with the little battery saw, pick it up, pull the trigger and cut. Even stopping and starting my 017 gets old after a while.
After watching the project farm video and checking prices on what is available around here we wound up with the dewalt 60v flexvolt. Home depot had one on sale for 299 with the battery and charger, figured since most of my cordless stuff is already dewalt it makes sense. Once the monsoon stops and the ground solidifies some we'll try it out and report the results.
Glad to hear I could help!